Nurse up to the challenge

He may be just 17-years-old, with only 60 Ontario Hockey League games under his belt.

But if Darnell Nurse is experiencing any undue pressure over his new role, the Soo Greyhounds second-year defenceman isn’t showing it.

“I’m up to the challenge,” said Nurse, who’s expected to fill Ryan Sproul’s spot on the Hounds first power-play unit.

Nurse’s first full game with that added responsibility comes tonight, as the Soo opens a three-game road trip in Windsor.

The Greyhounds (5-2-0-0) have Friday off before visiting Plymouth Saturday night and Sarnia Sunday afternoon.

Possessor of one of the hardest shots in the league, Sproul is expected to miss at least 8-10 weeks after a slash fractured his left forearm early in last Saturday’s 6-3, home-ice loss to Sarnia.

Not only are the Greyhounds minus one of the league’s most-productive defencemen in Sproul, who has a goal and eight assists in his first seven games, they’re also without overage captain Colin Miller.

The third-year defenceman last played on Sept. 29 in Saginaw. Suffering from an inflamed and infected bursa sac on his left Achilles tendon, Miller underwent minor surgery two days later.

The bursa is a fluid-filled sac located between the Achilles and the skin.

Miller is expecting to be out another 3-4 weeks.

“When certain things happen, you have to step up and rise to the occasion,” said Nurse, a second-year man taken by the Hounds in the first round (third overall) of the 2011 OHL Priority Selections draft.

Nurse notched a goal and nine assists in 53 games last season. So far this year, he has four assists in seven starts.

“For sure, these are really big shoes to fill on the power play,” Nurse, a six-foot-five, 192-pounder, said. “But, by the same token, it doesn’t change anything I’ve done this year or planned to do this season.”

A good part of the Hounds power play typically goes through Sproul, a second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2011.

“But let’s remember,” Stapleton added, “it’s five guys working on the power play.”

And that’s the approach this team is taking as it faces life without two key performers.

“Absolutely,” the coach continued. “Do we miss those two guys? Sure we do. But there’ll be five guys out on the ice and losing players is part of the process in hockey.”

Along with Nurse, the Hounds will rely heavily on veteran rearguards Alex Gudbranson, an 18-year-old, and overage Chris Buonomo, who’s 20.

With Matt Murray expected to make his eighth-consecutive start in goal tonight, Stapleton plans to play Nurse with Gudbranson and Buonomo with Matt Fuller, who’s feeling better after a recent bout with tonsillitis.